


Irreconcilable Differences

by magician



Series: Irreconcilable Differences [1]
Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sentinels and Guides Are Known, Bingo, Other, Pre-Relationship, Relationship(s), Sentinel Bingo Card
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-06
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2019-03-14 11:50:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13589448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magician/pseuds/magician
Summary: What does it take to get along? Written for 2018 SenBingo for the prompt "power dynamics"





	Irreconcilable Differences

**Author's Note:**

> Gah, I don't even like most of the "Sentinel/Guides are known" AUs, precisely because there's often a power imbalance that ends badly, either for the guides, the sentinels or ordinary folks. So, why did I write one? I blame it on the Bingo card. That little square contained the words "power dynamics", and all those stories I'd read started my brain in that direction. So, here it is. Sorry if it's not your cup of tea.

"Guide Welles, can you tell me what happened, in your own words?"  
  
"Yes.  There was a murder.  Because it looked similar to other recent murders, perhaps indicating a serial killer, the officers on scene called Major Crime instead of Homicide.  The case was given to Sentinel Ellison, and I was notified so I could be there with him.  I was on my lunch break offsite, so I went directly to the scene instead of meeting him at the precinct.  
  
"When I got there, I started taking pictures and pulled out my evidence kit.  Sentinel Ellison still had not arrived, so I went through the victim's pockets, trying to find his ID.  That's when Sentinel Ellison arrived and made a fuss.  After that, he wouldn't listen to any of my suggestions on how to use his senses.  We ended up arguing.  Then Captain Taggert showed up and broke it up."  
  
Doctor Eli Stoddard, of the Sentinel/Guide Institute, turned to Jim Ellison.  "Sentinel Ellison, let's hear your version, please."  
  
"It's Detective."  
  
"Pardon me?"  
  
"I'm Detective Ellison.  I'm not defined by my sentinel skills, any more than I'm defined by my height or the color of my eyes.  You wouldn't refer to me as Tall Ellison, or Blue-Eyed Ellison, would you?  They are simply the genetics I was born with, as I was born with these senses.  I have, however, worked hard and passed many rigorous tests to earn the title 'Detective'. Unlike Guide Welles, here, who thinks that because she's my guide she has the authority to overstep her bounds as a forensic tech and do my job."  
  
Cassie rolled her eyes. "You are such a big baby," she declared scornfully.  "Are you afraid of a little competition?"  
  
"No," Jim drawled, "I'm afraid you'll mess something up that I could use to solve the case."  
  
"Oh, please! First of all, I _am_ a forensic tech and, as such, I know my way around a crime scene.  There was no way I was going to contaminate it.  Second, what are the chances you'd miss _anything_ with those senses?  The only way that could happen is if you didn't use them correctly due to your own pig-headedness."  
  
Stoddard cleared his throat.  "Okay, I think I've got the picture of what happened in this latest incident.  You two have been paired for a little over a month.  Your captains agree that your pairing can be described as tumultuous. Can you bottom-line what your issues are with the other one?  Perhaps that would help clarify things."  
  
Cassie spoke up immediately. "He refuses to take my guidance.  He doesn't acknowledge my skills or experience either as a forensic technician or a guide, and I've gotten top marks in both."  
  
Stoddard looked at a paper in his folder.  "You have, indeed.  Not only did you graduate with honors from Stanford and gotten top-notch reviews from your supervisors, but you've received commendations for your work both at San Francisco and Cascade PDs.  Your Guide scores are very high, as well.  You're in the top ten percentile in your empathy scores and you've received very good feedback from other sentinels you've fostered."  
  
Jim snorted. "I find that hard to believe."  
  
"Which part is that, Sen-- _Detective_ Ellison?" Stoddard asked.  
  
"That she's a great guide.  Oh, I'll grant that she does excellent forensic work, when she sticks to it.  But she stinks as a guide."  
  
Cassie opened her mouth to respond, but Stoddard held up his hand. "That sounds like a good segue to your issues, Detective.  In the parlance of the young folks, what's your beef?"  
  
"My _beef_ is that she wants to treat me like a child, or a trained dog or monkey.  I've had these senses all my life and I've never needed a guide to control them.  She's constantly telling me how to use them, when to use them, even when _not_ to use them.  She insists that I can't proceed to use them unless she's right there next to me.  She crowds me, talks to me when I'm trying to concentrate and talks to me in this honey-dripping voice.  And she _touches_ me--all the time."  
  
Cassie huffed.  "That voice and the touching is standard Guide practice, designed to help the Sentinel focus and work better."  
  
"Well, it doesn't work better--just the opposite.  It's like listening to nails on a chalkboard.  On top of that she wants to have sex with me!"  
  
"To bond!" Cassie protested.  "To make our partnership stronger."  
  
"If I can't stand your touching me, how the hell are we going to have sex?  It's impossible."  
  
"I agree," said Stoddard.  "We have learned many things over the decades since we first learned how prevalent guides and sentinels are.  At first, the sentinels were given free rein, because they had the senses.  As a result, we found some pretty horrid examples of abuse.  Then the pendulum swung the other way, and laws were enacted that gave the guides almost unlimited power. It was done in order to protect them from sentinel cruelty.  Over time,  some guides ended up abusing sentinels.  Both situations are a power imbalance.  As we again changed the laws, we had to look at the dynamics between sentinel and guide and discovered something so unsurprising that it surprised everyone."  
  
Stoddard sighed.  "Sentinels and guides are, first and foremost, humans.  Oh, yes, along with the senses usually comes an increased need to protect, and along with the guide empathy comes a genuine desire to help.  But not always.  We’ve had criminals on both sides; sadists, masochists, saints and sinners.  So, the best thing we could do is treat sentinel and guide pairings like we do any other relationship--we set up, for want of a better term, a dating service.  We aim for a happy pairing, but if it doesn't work out that way, no harm, no foul.  As in marriages, we chalk it up to irreconcilable differences.  
  
"You are both excellent as sentinel and guide, just not compatible." Cassie made a noise. "What is it, Guide Welles?"  
  
"Blair said that.  We were talking about the problems I was having and he said we were probably not a good fit."  
  
"And Blair is…"  
  
"He's an anthropology student, studying the police for his doctorate." Jim answered. "He's been making the rounds of the different departments."  
  
"Not Blair Sandburg?" Stoddard asked in surprise.  
  
"Yes, do you know him?" Cassie asked.  
  
"I do, indeed.  I was Anthropology Head when he started at Rainier.  I was his advisor until I changed departments.  I'm afraid we've been out of touch for a while."  Stoddard shook his head, as if to clear it.  "Well, it sounds as if Mr. Sandburg might be right in his assessment.  You both were young when we were going through those sentinel/guide relationship laws, so I expect you have some ideas as to how it should work that we know now are wrong.  You are incompatible, and keeping you together is a study in frustration for everyone.  Therefore," he pulled out a piece of paper and signed it, "I've dissolved your official partnership. Neither of you is obligated to the other as of now."  He left the room, then came back with copies, which he distributed.  
  
"Now," Stoddard continued, "I have a sentinel in mind for you, Guide Welles.  Her name is Debra Reeves and she's a Cascade Fire Department Arson inspector.  You can stay in your current position, since the CFD uses the PD's forensics people, and I think you'll like her.  She's no-nonsense and dedicated to her job, very much like you.  Her strongest senses are smell and hearing, and she's requested a guide who can help her maximize the use of her others."  Eli opened a drawer and pulled out another file folder and looked at its contents. "She is also interested in bonding with the right partner." When he heard no objections from Cassie, he wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to her. "Here's her contact number.  After you've met, please take advantage of all our resources to help you in this next relationship.  If it doesn't work out, I don't want to hear about it through your supervisor.  Okay?"  At Cassie's nod, he stood up and offered his hand.  "Good luck, Guide Welles--Cassie." As Jim stood to leave, Stoddard said, "I'd like you to stay, Detective.  I might have a guide for you, if you're willing."    
  
"I'm sorry things didn't work out for us, Jim.  Good luck with your new guide." With a last nod to them both, Cassie left.  
  
Jim sat back in his chair, but crossed his arms.  He didn't expect anything good to come of this meeting.  
  
"Detective Ellison--can I call you Jim?" Jim nodded.  "Please call me Eli.  I find this obsession with titles sometimes gets in the way."  
  
Jim gave his first real smile since walking into Stoddard's office.  "Since I don't need to arrest you, I think we can dispense with the formalities."  
  
"Good, good.  Now, I want to ask you a question.  Have you met or spent any time with Mr. Sandburg?"  
  
Jim looked at him in surprise.  "Well, as a matter of fact, yes.  He was doing a turn in our department.  Since I normally work without a partner, he asked to ride with me, to see how it differs from cops who have partners.  The second day we worked together, he said he was surprised to learn I was a sentinel."  
  
"You said you worked together?"  
  
"Yeah," Jim nodded.  "On the first day, he was able to suggest an angle I hadn't thought of--it was enough, with the forensic evidence I found, to arrest a suspect.  The next time he rode with me, he asked me a lot of questions, especially after he noticed the senses."  
  
"Didn't that bother you?"  
  
Jim stared at Eli. "No; they weren't obtrusive. He'd ask them either before or after I was doing my scans.  Even during them, he kept his voice low and asked things that actually helped clarify how I was using my senses--making it clearer in my own mind." Jim stopped, thinking.  
  
"Hm.  Would it surprise you to learn Blair has guide genes?  That he's tested quite high on the scale, in fact?"  
  
Jim thought about it.  "On a certain level, I'd say yes.  But on another level, I guess I'm not surprised.  Why didn't he say anything?"  
  
"You'll have to ask him that.  Perhaps he didn't want to interfere with your pairing. But I do know that he's not interested in being a guide per se; he'd rather pursue his anthropology career.  Oh, he's willing to be a guide," Stoddard continued when he saw that Jim was going to ask another question. "But it has to be for the right sentinel.  He's looking for a lasting relationship. He's attended our social mixers, but hasn't found the one… yet." Eli leaned back in his chair, fiddling with a pen and giving Jim an assessing look.  "Do you find him attractive? Not that it's absolutely necessary for a good relationship; I'm just curious."  
  
Jim got up and walked over to the windows, looking out on the well-kept garden in the quad below. "Honestly, he wasn't much to look at when he walked into the bullpen.  Looking like a refugee from a hippy commune and babbling a bit too much.  I was raised strictly, went in the Army and became a Ranger, then a cop and worked my way up to Detective rank in record time.  My life is all about discipline and control.  Then this guy who seems to be the total opposite breezes in…" Jim shook his head. "But he's smart and goal-oriented and gives me his serious attention.  And I'm finding that I do like him.  I don't know why, but it might work."  
  
"Well, as a sentinel, you of all people should believe that part of relationships is a chemical compatibility. Whether you call it love at first sight or pheromones, or the species wanting to survive by pulling together the best gene pool, there's something that's undeniably there.  If he's willing, would you be willing to try a relationship--working or otherwise?"  
  
Jim smiled. "Yes."  
  
"Good, good."  Eli picked up the phone and dialed. "Blair? It's Eli Stoddard.... Yes, it _has_ been a long time.... You're doing well?... I'd love to hear about it.... Listen, can you spare a few minutes for an old friend? There's someone I'd like you to meet." Eli winked at Jim.  "You can?  Wonderful! I'll put on the kettle.  See you in fifteen." Eli hung up, then sat back in his chair, folding his hands over his stomach, smiling in satisfaction.  
  
"You seem to be enjoying yourself," Jim said wryly.  
  
"Oh, indeed. My wife says I'm a frustrated shadchan."  Eli chuckled as he looked at Jim, then stood up and rubbed his hands together.  "Perhaps not so frustrated today, eh?  How do you take your tea?"  
  
~~the end~~

**Author's Note:**

> I always felt a little sorry for canon Cassie. She was smart and savvy, but frustrated at not being able to do the job she wanted. I think her character was given short shrift by the powers that be by making her a potential bed mate or, at least, making Jim and Blair talk about her as such. Here, I tried to make her not so much a bitch as incompatible with Jim--for obvious reasons. I hope she and Debra work out well!
> 
> Oh, and shadchan is the Yiddish word for matchmaker.


End file.
